Flue liner



April 15, 1941. J. .LnYER FLUE LINER Filed Jan. ls, 1940 'ff lNvEN'roR James lyef Patented Apr. 15, 1941 UNITED STAT PATENT OFFICE FLELINER, James J. Dyer, Toronto, Ohio Application January; 8, 1940, Serial4 No. 312,895 5 claims. ,(cl. rz-eil' This invention relates to a flue liner and more particularly to flue liner elements made of vitried ceramic material which may be assembled end to end to form a flue liner which prevents the flame, combustion gases or soot passing through the flue from leaking through the joints, even though the joints may not be entirely tight.

In the accompanying drawing, which Aillusitrates the preferred embodiment of my invention- Fig. l is a vertical section of a portion of a flue formed of liner elements according to the present invention, and also a portion of the sur.- rounding brickwork, l,

Fig. 2 is a plan View of one of the liner elei ments, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the topA portion of one of the linerelements.

Flue liners have generally been made in the past by assembling a series of liner elements one on top of the other with mortar or other cementing medium in the joints, the liner elements having flat substantially horizontal top and bottom surfaces. The joint between the top of one liner element and the bottom of the next higher element is exposed to the flame and gases within the flue. If the joints are not tight, the draft may be cut down because of infiltration of cold air. Under certain latmospheric conditions, there is a tendency for the llame, gases or soot to leak through the joints into Contact with the surrounding brickwork, and if the brickwork is not tight, this leakage may cause damage to the building.

These disadvantages are overcome by constructing the flue liner elements in accordance with the lpresent invention. I provide a unitary collar on the upper end of the body portion of each liner element, which collar extends above the body portion and is oiiset inwardly of the inner surface of the wall of the body portion, so as to provide a supporting surface on the upper end of the body portion for the lower end of the next higher liner element. The collar acts as a bale or shield which prevents direct impingement of the flame, gases or soot passing upwardly through the flue on the joint.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing, the flue liner indicated generally by the reference numeral 2 is made up of tion 6 formed of 'front and back walls 'I and side walls 8. `In the embodiment shown, the liner element is square in` cross section, the Walls l and 8 being of equal length. The liner may, however, be of otherthan square section, being longer in one direction than in the other, or may be circular or of any other desired cross section.

A collar or ilange 9 is formed integrally with the body portion 6 -and extendsy upwardly beyond the top surface lil of the body portion. The collar is offset inwardly of the walls 1 and f8 of the body portion. That is, the area bounded by the collar is less than the area bounded by the body portion lB of the liner element. The thickness of the collar 9 is preferably less than the thickness of the Walls of the body portion. The collar isoffset inwardly of the walls of the body portion a sufficient distance, so that the top surface Ill) will form a supporting surface for the bottom surface of the next higher liner element and the liner elements when assembled will have their outer surfaces Il in alignment with each other. The joints between the liner sections are filled with mortar I2 or other cementing material. The top surface i0 is provided with a groove I3 which anchors the mortar used in the joints. This groove may be semi-circular as shown, or of any other `desired shape.

The iiame :and gases traveling upwardly in the flue are prevented from impinging directly on the joints between the liner elements because of the collar 9 on each element. The collars act as battles which direct the flames past the joints. The collars will prevent escape of flame, gases and soot from the ue, even though the joints between the elements are not completely tight. The collars prevent the mortar from being squeezed out of the joints into the interior of the ilue while the mortar is hardening, thereby preventing clogging of the bottom of the ilue, or forming projections on the inside of the flue which would collect soot. The surface of the collar is smooth and does not collect soot as readily as would a rough mortar surface. The surfaces lil are sloped downwardly and outwardly, so that in the event that any condensation occurs within the flue, it will filter through the joint material and escape along the sloping surface ID to the outside of the ue.

The flue liner elements may be made by an xtrusion process similar to that disclosed in my Patent No. 1,978,420, granted October 30, 1934, or by other suitable process. 'This avoids the expense incident to, and the weakening of the liner element which would result from cutting away a portion of the wall of the element, in

order to provide a collar and a supporting surface for the adjacent liner element.

Although it is preferred to make the liner elements of vitried ceramic material such as vitriiied clay or shale, they may be made of other suitable material. I may use concrete, asbestos or a mixture of concrete and asbestos.

Although I have illustrated and described the present preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention may be otherwise embodied or practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A flue liner element comprising a body portion enclosing a ue passage, a unitary collar formed on the upper end of the body portion and extending above and coextensive with the body portion, the collar being offset inwardly of the inside wall of the body portion, so as to provide a supporting surface on the upper end of the body portion for the lower end of an adjacent liner element.

2. A ilue liner element made of vitried ceramic material and comprising a body portion enclosing a flue passage, a unitary collar coextensive with and corresponding in the shape of its cross section to the cross section of the body portion and formed on the upper end of the body portion and extending above the body portion, the collar being offset inwardly of the inside wall of the body portion so as to provide a supporting surface on the upper end of the body portion for supporting the lower end of an adjacent liner element.

3. A flue liner element made of vitried ceramic material and comprising a body portion of rectangular cross section enclosing a flue-passage, a unitary collar of rectangular cross section corresponding to the shape of the cross. section of the body portion and formed on the upper end of the body portion and extending above the body portion, the collar being oiset inwardly of the inside wall of the body portion, so as to provide a supporting surface on the upper end of the body portion for the lower end of an adjacent liner element.

4. A flue liner element made of vitried ceramic material and comprising a body portion enclosing a flue passage, a unitary collar formed on the upper end of the body portion and extending above and coextensive with the body c portion, the collar being oset inwardly of the inside wall of the body portion, sov as to provide a supporting surface on the upper end of the body portion for the lower end of an adjacent liner element, said supporting surface which is located at the upper end of the body portion sloping downwardly toward the outside of the liner element.

5. A ue liner element comprising a body portion enclosing a flue passage, the bottom of said bodyportion formed of one continuous surface extending the full thickness of the body portion whereby the body portion is not weakened by cut out portions, a unitary collar formed on the upper end of the body portion and extending above and coextensive with the body portion, the collar being offset inwardly of the inside wall of the body portion, so as to provide a supporting surface on the upper end of the body portion for the lower end of an adjacent liner element, said collar extending a suiiicient distance above the body portion to act as a baffle which eiectively protects the joint between adjacent liner elements from the gases flowing through the flue passage.

JAMES J. DYER. 

